Headbox Secures £4 Million Fundraise

LONDON, November 14, 2018 (Newswire.com) - HeadBox, one of the UK’s fastest growing event tech companies has finalised a £4 million fundraise led by Guinness Asset Management bringing their total funding to £8.2 million.

This investment will fuel HeadBox’s technology development across its marketplace, the UK’s first transactional platform for meeting, off-site and event spaces, and its two other SaaS (software-as-a-service) products HeadBox Business, its enterprise technology-led solution for corporate clients and STACK, its software for Host venues. The funding will also drive the platform’s European expansion plans, with Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin next on the road-map.

We have been very impressed by the HeadBox management team and the SaaS offering they have developed. We expect that this investment will accelerate HeadBox growth as it fulfills its plans to transform the corporate events industry in the UK and taking on key cities in Europe.

Chris Villiers, Fund Manager at Guinness Asset Management

Chris Villiers, Fund Manager at Guinness Asset Management, said: “We have been very impressed by the HeadBox management team and the SaaS offering they have developed. We expect that this investment will accelerate HeadBox growth as it fulfills its plans to transform the corporate events industry in the UK and taking on key cities in Europe.”

The successful fundraise comes off the back of accelerated growth during 2018. Last week the team launched Scotland with a plethora of creative venues across Edinburgh and Glasgow, further expanding their UK wide inventory of 5500 out-of-the-ordinary spaces.

HeadBox Business has secured major contracts with a variety of global brands across a range of industries including finance, insurance, technology, fashion, and publishing. These companies now use HeadBox as their main events booking provider for their UK and Ireland operations. The new client contracts have resulted in HeadBox delivering a 200% increase in gross merchandise value and a 275% increase in sales compared to 2017. 

To support the growth, the HeadBox team has grown from 17 to 52 with significant investment in its technology and product functions including the hiring of Chief Technology Officer, Gavin Spurling, from emnos, the global retail expert technology company that specialises in machine learning AI and Big Data.

The strong growth was recognised by HeadBox being shortlisted for The Sunday Times Tech Track "Ones to Watch" 2018 and listed for the third consecutive year in Startups UK Top 100, ranking at #23.

Andrew Needham, CEO and Founder of HeadBox, comments, “HeadBox is on a mission to reinvent the global events industry through technology and the funds we’ve raised will be invested to accelerate our position as the industry leader in the UK digital event booking market. I’m thrilled to announce the investment from Guinness Asset Management who recognises that HeadBox is well placed to help large corporates deliver digital transformation in the meetings and events sector. We are very focused on helping both our corporate clients and our Host venues continue to resolve event booking problems through our technology and software. 2019 will be another exciting year for HeadBox as we look to roll out into other major European cities such as Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin.”

Source: HeadBox